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To
achieve equal human and civil rights for those affected by the Irish
adoption system.
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To
ensure that adopted people in Ireland have statutory based rights
and tracing/information services.
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To
ensure that the Irish Constitution is amended to include
children’s rights, including the right of the child to his/her
identity.
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To
ensure that adopted people have automatic access to their birth
certificates.
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To
achieve the unconditional opening of adoption files to adopted
people who have reached the age of eighteen years.
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To
ensure that adopted people and adopted children have the right to
know they are adopted.
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To
achieve the abolition of closed, secret, unethical and
non-child-centred adoption.
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To
inform, enable, empower, represent and support those affected by the
Irish adoption system by identifying their needs and advocating
their rights.
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To
develop a peer support based advocacy system in order to assist
adopted people and natural parents in dealing with the closed
secretive Irish adoption system.
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To
provide support and advice in matters relating to tracing and
information and to encourage and enable those affected by adoption
to trace in an ethical manner.
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To
develop a mechanism for those affected by adoption to safely voice
their concerns and raise complaints with the Irish Adoption
Authority in a confidential manner.
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To
educate adoption professionals and the wider community regarding the
effects of closed secret adoption on adopted people and to promote
openness, awareness and understanding of adoption related issues.
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To
develop and maintain tracing methods for those affected by the Irish
adoption system.
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To
develop and maintain tracing methods for people adopted into Ireland
from other countries. We
welcome the help of interested adoptive parents, natural families or
any interested parties from or familiar with the countries of origin
– all of whom must share ARA’s ethos.
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To
assist the process of healing the emotional damage caused by the
closed secretive Irish adoption system.
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To
seek acknowledgement and validation for the losses imposed by closed
secret adoption.
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To
research and promote a child centred code of best practice in
adoption, alternatives to adoption and post adoption services.
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To
ensure that Adoption Authority operations are covered under the
Freedom of Information Act and Ombudsman’s Act.
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To
commit to working in alliance with all those who share our aims
and/or respect our views and our right to hold them.
